Members of Crew 4 attending this shakedown were Marshall, Travis, Sarah, Rhys, Branden, Shane, Robin, Elmer, and Robert. We were only missing Sofie.

Sarah & I left home at 5pm after loading the truck. We ran by Whataburger then went to the shed to meet the crew. We had to make a quick stop for gas and got on the road at 6:10pm under an overcast sky. Temperature was in the 80’s and it was breezy. Traffic was slow from the 287/I-35 merge up to Golden Triangle north of 820. Elmer was driving my truck and took the lead, setting a blistering pace, snubbing his nose at any and all law enforcement.

We got up to Juniper Point around 8pm and went to our campsite to find squatters there. We worked out an arrangement and set up camp. The clouds kept getting heavier and heavier as the evening progressed. We had a cracker barrel on the tailgate of my truck and listened to the Dallas Mavericks playoff game on the radio. As we ate we could see flashes of distant lightning on the horizon. We cleaned up, secured all of our gear, and got in the tents around 10:30pm. The big thunder started shortly thereafter followed closely by a light rain.

The big wind started after midnight with a couple of gusts that laid the tent over. I feared we had lost stakes in the rocky ground, but they held and the Kelty Gunnison stood up to the test. The first line of big storms moved out around 1:30am. The next line hit around 4am. This one had less lightning and wind, but dumped much more rain. I woke up for good at 6am.

The rain stopped at 6:30am so we got up, broke camp, and moved vehicles over to the trailhead. We took a crew photo and were ready to hit the trail at 7:45am. The trail dictated the word of the day – MUD! We made the first mile & one-half in about 45 minutes and ate breakfast in the usual spot down by the lake. We had oatmeal, clif bars, and gorp brought out by Elmer. Since we were camping at a “dry camp” we were very careful with water usage at breakfast. After about 45 minutes spent on breakfast we hit the trail again.

Somewhere between breakfast and Cedar Bayou both Sarah and Travis took small falls. Sarah’s legs were layered with mud from knee to boot. We pushed on and made the Lost Loop trail junction at 10:40am. Here I separated from the crew, took the high water bypass, and got a “First to Find” on a new geocache out on the loop. After finding the cache I continued on the bypass, finally arriving back on the main trail. Near 5 Mile Camp, I walked the shoreline around to 5 Mile, then went up the hill to find James Burt and James Hayden camped there. They told me the crew had hiked on towards Eagle Roost. I continued on and caught the crew at the main trail junction. We continued on to Eagle Roost and camped at the last big site out on the point.

We got camp set up fairly quickly and had lunch about 12:30pm. It was a Phil-lunch: club crackers, peanut butter, sausage stick, and Gatorade. After lunch Elmer, Robert, & I walked back to the James' campsite so I could replace my geocache near there. We returned to camp to find everyone sacked out in their tents fast asleep. I was about ready to join the comatose crowd when another crew came up and dropped their packs between our tents and crew fly. We talked with some of the adults while others looked around for other camping spots. They were from Colleyville and were also out on a Philmont shakedown. They found a spot to camp about 250 yards back up the trail. After they left, Elmer, Robert, & I walked down to the lake to pump some water. Unfortunately the pump was next to useless taking 30 minutes to pump 2 liters. We gave up at 4:35pm and went back up to wake up the crew.

At 5pm, when the crew gathered to begin dinner prep, I took a 30 minute power nap. I woke up just in time for grace. Supper was another Phil-meal: Teriyaki chicken with raman, apple sauce, and oreos. I nabbed the extra oreos to have later with hot chocolate. Travis & I KP’d and then we all did personal smellables. We started our campfire at 7:45pm and started hot chocolate shortly thereafter. We had our TB&R around the fire. I had no thorn. My bud was getting things done in a timely manner. My rose was my crew – I have a great crew. I do my best not to compare this crew to the others in this contingent, or to my past crews, but this crew would stack up well against any of them. David and James Burt walked up during our TB&R and talked a little while. After the fire, we cleaned camp a bit, and all were in their tents by 9:30pm.

The weather today was awesome. We got up to cool temps and clouds. By the time we started hiking it was partly cloudy and still cool. By Cedar Bayou, it was clear, warming, and breezy. Our camp at Eagle Roost had plenty of shade and allowed the breeze off of the lake to get to us. Evening temps stayed comfortable and I didn’t get under the bag until 11pm.

I slept well and only woke up right before the alarm at 5am. I gout out of the tent at 5:08am and got the crew up. We broke camp well. I could have been a little faster, but we were hiking at 6:15am. Again, the weather was perfect – no clouds, cool, light breeze.

Coming back out we passed five or six other groups camped along the trail. We made it to the hilltop campsite for breakfast at 7:10am. Breakfast was pop tarts, a cereal bar, sausage stick, gorp, and dried pineapples and blueberries. David and the two James were at the hilltop campsite when we arrived and left about 10 minutes before we did.

The crew did very well on the hike this morning, arriving back at Juniper Point before 10am. The trail had dried considerably yesterday and overnight, and the walking was much easier today. We unloaded crew gear from our packs, then went over to the shower house to clean up before lunch.

Showering was a slow process, but we were not in a hurry since the restaurant did not open till 11am. We arrived there at 11:10am. Lunch was great and we had a great waiter. We got on the road at 12:15pm. Again, Elmer took the lead and showed no regard for speed limits. We arrived back at St. Barnabas at 2pm.

^{journal of Shane Hoffman}